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One final thing I forgot to mention about placement: most religious studies programs that are worth their salt publish placement data. I would be wary, however, of thinking that 'seminary' is antithetical to 'academia.' Many seminaries (and divinity schools) are quite academic in nature. That is to say, while the primary purpose of some seminaries is vocational, at many seminaries you also have people doing work that is also 'research-oriented.' So, that a person finds a job at a seminary doesn't mean that they are out of the academy. It is very likely that they are still writing and publishing academic work in addition to their teaching requirements (which are not vocational, if their background is not in vocational work), going to conferences and things, and in most recognizable senses, a part of the academy.

As others have said, it depends on what your friend is looking for. She is right to be worried about philosophical rigor in religion/theology programs. But at any of the religious studies and theology programs I'll discuss below, she will be able to find folks who have rigorous philosophical minds. If s/he is looking for programs in Philosophical Theology -- i.e., (Christian) theology done in a philosophical mode (in distinction with systematic and historical theology, although ultimately all theology involves all three 'modes'), then she is best off looking at Religious Studies and Theology programs. Of those, where to go depends on her particular interests. UChicago is. right now, probably the best place to do a certain kind (apophatic/post-metaphysical and postmodern theology), with Jean-Luc Marion and Kevin Hector (though Hector is not a full professor yet). Marion is particularly good on 20th century continental thought (Heidegger and Husserl). Yale's philosophical theologians (John Hare and John Pittard) are more analytically oriented, but both are quite sharp. Hare is also very good on Kant and Kierkegaard. Notre Dame doesn't have a philosophical theology concentration, but some of their systematicians are very sharp philosophically (like Cyril O'Regan on Hegel) and some of their moral theologians are also very good philosophically (Porter is familiar with analytic moral philosophy in addition to medieval Christian philosophy; McKenny knows Kant and the post-Kantians quite well; Neil Arner, who is not yet a full professor, is also very sharp on contemporary analytic moral philosophy). It must be said, however, that it is increasingly difficult to get jobs in Philosophical Theology or Philosophy of Religion (POR) as such in Religious Studies and Theology departments. It's a weird state of affairs in the market. If your friend is instead interested in Philosophy of Religion practiced in a less confessional mode, then a POR program in Philosophy would be best. As others have mentioned, Notre Dame (Robert Audi and Mike Rea are both very good philosophers, even though Audi's focus is not POR), Purdue I know less about, but seems to be highly reputed. Saint Louis University is also a first-rate POR department; Eleonore Stump has done and continues to do good work, especially on Aquinas). Even though Cornell is not known for POR, the very fact that Scott MacDonald (medieval Christian philosophy) is there makes it worth at least applying to. Finally, Rutgers benefits greatly from the presence of Bob and Marilyn McCord Adams, but others will be more knowledgeable than I on whether they are slated to be at Rutgers for much longer, or whether their stay is more touch-and-go. Given their ages, I would expect the latter, but that's merely conjecture on my part. As for placement, graduates from religious studies programs are in general less likely to be 'pigeon-holed' into seminaries/divinity schools than graduates from theology programs. Of course, you're most likely to avoid a seminary-placement if you graduate from a philosophy program. But since Yale's philosophical theology concentration is a subset of the Religious Studies program, she might be optimistic in applying there. Finally, if her interests in POR are less on responding to problems internal to theologies and more about questions like "what is a religion?" studied in a philosophical mode, then probably the best place for her is actually Brown's PhD program in Religious Studies. It is not confessional at all, and their subprogram in Religion and Critical Thought is one of the best in the program on 'phenomenology of religion' type inquiry. Stephen Bush has a recently published book that's meant to be first-rate. Tal Lewis and Mark Cladis are both doing work on the shape of religion in public life. Brown also has a program that allows PhD students in any program to read for a Master's in an ancillary department. So your friend might also consider applying to that program and trying for a Master's in philosophy to go along with her PhD in Religious Studies. I hope this is helpful.

Just be careful; McKenny is no longer visiting at Yale (he visited Spring '14), and Simmons' assignment is up this summer. Also, though he doesn't do economics stuff (as far as I know), John Hare does do ethics/moral philosophy. It's his primary methodological entry point into POR.

Two years ago ND got back to me on 3/12. Hope this is helpful.

Baylor has made offers at least to folks in Theology and Church History. They made them last Friday (2/27) I believe. I suspect if you haven't heard back they may be using an internal wait list and trying to prod their acceptances to make a decision either way. I hope this is helpful.

Hi. I'm not in Church History but I personally know one of the people who got offered a spot there. As far as I know he is taking it. Sorry if this is bad news.

Thanks! This is helpful and informative.

Congratulations! Best of luck in your decision-making.

Thanks, stevenmarq. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how could the first not imply the second? Do schools that interview ever accept people they didn't interview? I always thought they interviewed their shortlist? Or are you indicating that I could be on their waitlist, and if their yield is low, they might take me, or something?

I noticed some Emory news back in late Jan. Does no news at this point mean rejection? I ask because of the 4 posts, (3 of which are interviews), 2 were NT, and the other two didn't indicate subfield. Should we think that all of Emory's interviews have gone out? Or that they only went out for NT? Thanks!!!

Cornell seems like a good fit for you in terms of interest. Scott MacDonald is really sharp on Aquinas and knows his medievals (esp. Boethius and Augustine) really well. Aside from that, if you're interested in metaethics, Cornell is a good place to be. Richard Boyd is at the forefront of one school of metaethicists (though perhaps not the one you're interested in, if you're a Thomist!). And they've recently hired Julia Markovits as an Associate Professor. Obviously she won't be advising your dissertation (and who knows how long she'll be at Cornell), but she's a superb philosopher, her book Moral Reason is a great text (she studied with Parfit, etc. etc.).

Hi, all. My first time here. What degree? Ph.D What area? Ethics Do you know where? Yes What have you already done to prepare? Mostly been coursework up until now. GRE is done. What are you working on now? Studying Latin; Working on two potential samples; doing the basic skeleton for my SOIs And what else do you need to do between now and September when the application cycles actually open up? Hopefully my samples will be in good shape at the end of the summer. I also need to solicit recommendations and finish the SOIs.

6; didn't really practice, just tried to answer the questions as thoroughly, rigorously, and succinctly as I could. Since the essay questions were really argument analyses, taking classes at university where you analyze arguments rigorously is helpful, I think.